Baby exerciser



F. M. HASKINS.

BA'BY EXERCISER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 20, 1921.

l %2 0 3 Patented Aug. 15, 1922.

771.. MM BY FRANCES 1w; nasnnvs, or new YORK, 1v; Y.

BABY EXERCISER.

fipecifieation of Letters Patent. Pate t d A 15 1922 Application filed September 20, 1921'. Serial no. 501,930.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that l, FRANCES M. Hasnnvs, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, in the county of New Yorl: and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Baby Exercisers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to appliances for the care, entertainment, exercise, or physical culture of babies and especially young babies, who otherwise are usually either left to themselves, or else are put under the care of nurses, unless the mothers are willing to give them the personal attention that they should have. It is well known that babies three or four months or age or upward, if

normal and healthy, possess a considerable amount of vitality which for the sake of the infants should be so directed as to be exercised along beneficial lines, and moreover normal active babies of such ages are very much more wearing upon their mothers than the mothers realize or are ofttimes willing to admit.

Among the objects of this invention therefore is to provide an apparatus, termed herein an exerciser, for the accommodation of a baby of three or four months or upward, into which the baby'may'be placed with not only utmost impunity and safety but moreover in which it will not only be most satisfactorily entertained through its own efforts but will be properly exercised and de veloped, it being my experience that a baby so placed and left to its own resources will exercise beautifully and happily for hours at a time or until it becomes naturally weary and desires to go to sleep.

I am aware that it is not broadly new to provide a hanger or sling in which a baby is presumed to be suspended for the same general purpose as set forth herein, but among the specific and new objects of this improvement 'is to provide astructure including a sling or body portion that will possess facilities forthe-utmost safety and comfort to the baby, especially with respect to a full rounded seat-or hip-engaging portion, but without hampering or restricting the legs, leaving them free for natural activity.

Another object of the invention is to sim-' plify and improve the means for attaching the sling to the child with utmost safety and also adaptability 'fo nadjustment according to its size or development.

A still furtherobject of the invention, dis-.

tinguishing it from previous attempts along 1 this line, is to rovide. improved overhead hanger means a mg the lines of adjustment as to height, facility for attaching'or detaching the infant from the. overhead support, andv improved spreader means for the 1 suspension device.

With the foregoing and other objects in".

view the invention consists in the arrangement and OOIHblIltt'ClOIl ofparts hereinafter described and claimed, and while theinvention is not restricted to the exact details of still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment-thereofreference is had to, the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the-several views, and in which Figure l is a perspective view indicating the manner of use of the improvements Fig. 2 is an enlarged view, parts in section, showing moreparticularlv the details of the device. 1

Fig. 8, is a plan view of the sling mainly in fiat position.

Fig. 4-is a horizontal section on about the plane of the linen- 4 of Fig.;2, but with parts omitted to avoid confusion. T

Referring now more specifically to the;- drawings 1 show my improvement ascomprising an overhead support 10 including an adjustable strap 11, a bridle 12, and a sling l3. s

construction disclosed or suggested herein,

more, preferably two, coil springsM- adapt ed to'be permanently connected as by means of a ring.- orhook 'l5'tothe ceiling, door lintel, or other suitablearchirepresented at 16. To the lower endofthe spring is connected a ring 17 through which the strap 11 is passed, and tothe lower portionof the strap is secured anotherring 18, the effective length of thev 'strap'betweenthe rings being determined according to the height of the arch, the length of the lower portions of the device, and the size of the baby. The strap astshown is provided with a buckle 19 of any suitable construction to take care' of the adjustment of the strap as to length.

The bridle-comprises two straps 20 leadfrom the sling upward past the spreader comprising two rods or bars 21, thence through a keeper 22, and through the loop 23 of a swivel hook 24L detachably engageable with the ring 18. Then each strap passes downward again through the keeper past the spreader to the diametrically opposite portion of the sling from its starting point. its indicated, considering the sling as circular or oval in plan view, the enes oi the straps are attached in any suitable safe manner to the upper or band portion 25 ol the sling about 90 apart so as to distribu the strain about equally upon. all quarters of the sling. The keeper 22 is essentially a rectangular piece of metal with two parallel slots through which the straps pass. This keeper is adapted to be moves by hand along the upper portions or loops of the straps so as to occupy any desired position between the swivel and the spreader. For ordinary purposes or while the cevice is in use the keeper is preferably moved up close to the swivelso as to prevent the slipping oi the straps through the loop 23 while the child is playing or exercising but when the device is taken down from the overhead support deem it best to slide the keeper downward as far as it will go toward the spreader so as to make it impossible for the straps to become tangled with respect to each other and the spreader. The spreader comprises two bars or rods, made prefer ably of heavy round wire and each formed at its ends with loops 21 of substantially triangular form. Any suitable means may be employed to attach the spreader rods to the straps 20. To this end I employ keepers 26 similar to the keeper 22 in that each is provided with two parallel slots through one of which slots the strap 20 passes and through the other of which slots loop 27 of the same strap is passed, and in this loop the outer leg portion of the triangular loop 21 of the rod lies. When the strap 20 is thus drawn taut the loop 21 will be drawn snugly against the inner surface oil: the adjacent keeper 26, and hence the spreader rods and keepers 26 will be so retained at any desired elevation, this holding being effective through friction and is quite suflicient to maintain the spreader at any desired point along the straps. It is easy however for the spreader to be adjusted either up or down it necessary simply by loosening the straps at the keepers. The central portions of the spreader rods are loose and simply cross each other loosely and freely thus adapting the spreader "for automatic accommodation of itself and the straps according to the strain brought upon the lower ends thereof and leaving the childs arms and hose unobstructed. While a child is exercising actively the bars are subjected to a more or less constant relative movement, both lo itudinally and scissor-fashion. The pu .ose ofthe swivel is to provide for rotation of the child around a vertical axis, without the accompanying twistin of the straps.

The sling comprises a body portion 28 extending across the lower portion of the childs back and well li eneath the hips, form'- ing a seat portion 29 which extends far enough downward. and forward to come be neath the hip joints and so make a seat, that is not only comfortable to the baby but practically sate considering the fact that the device is adapted tor and has been successfully used in connection with babies hardly over three months of age. The body portion 28 is lined in any suitable sate mannor to the belt 2 3 which the straps 20 are secured. To one end of the band 25 is secured a wire loop 30 having detachable engagement with an adjustable button 31 secured at any desired point at another portion of the band. These buttons 31 are pretrably of the threaded shank and head strum tare well knoi 11 form of button, the shank being pointed "for slipping or plunging dil rough any suitable part of the tab 1 head is then put upon the shank. The head can be removed however only by unscrewing it from the shank. Adjacent to the fastener 3t are two other buttons 32, preferably oi the same type as the buttons 31, and co-o erating with these buttons 32 are r loops 33 on pair of crotch straps 34: which extend forward between the babys legs and upward toward the belt, clearly shown in l 2. These buttons may easily be adjusted may be required but preterably in line with the straps 20. It may be stated thi time that in putting the baby into the sling the sling is laid out flat as in Fig. on any convenient support such as bed, crib or table the hook 2a boil such time detached rrom the ring 18. the de *ice once fitted to the child as to size the operation is exceedingly simple, easy, and safe. The band 25 is first brought around the babys waist and the loop 30 fastened to its button 31. The crotch straps are then brought up and fastened as indicated in Fig. 2. Finally the hip straps 35 xtending laterally from the seat portion 29, are brought up around the babys hips and fastened to each other as by means of a loop 36 carried by one of the hip straps and with an adjustable button 37 on the other hip strap. The baby thus harnessed is then lifted and the swivel hook 24 is snapped into the ring 18, leaving the baby suspended with its toes about touching the floor, and with the springs 1 lunder extension proportional to weight of the baby suspended therefrom. The weight o1 the baby is supported primarily and directly upon the seat 29 of the sling and the sling is supported directly from the overhead support through the straps 20 and hook, the babys center of tly t gravity being well below the points of attachment of the straps to the waist band. The hip straps 35 render it impossible for the baby to slip from the seat 29, and the crotch straps 34 support the front portion of the seat directly from the waistband and hanger straps, while all of these por- 'tions suitably support the babys body from twisting or bending to an extent great enough to be injurious.

With the baby harnessed and suspended as indicated it soon acquires the ability to amuse and exercise itself, first by contact of its toes with the floor, causing the springs to play up and down, but leaving the babys arms and legs free for active movement. After the brief period of exercise with the up and down movement the baby soon acquires the ability to oscillate itself laterally.

The spreader rods, in addition to keeping the straps 20 well spaced from each other and from the baby, serve to reduce to a minimum the possibility of the baby causing itself to be struck against the side of the door or other fixed object while exercising. hen the baby is removed from the overhead support it is only necessary for the hook to be removed from the ring 18, which may be hung low enough to be easily reached by any adult person, and then the keeper if moved downward toward the spreader will bring the spreader portions close together and hold them in relatively fixed position.

The baby is then laid on its back and the various connections separated as will be understood. The straps and sling may then be rolled up for storage in any convenient place or if desired may be snapped again upon the ring 18 until again to be used.

I claim:

1. In a baby exerciser, the combination of a sling for the immediate support of the baby, overhead supporting means including a loop, and a bridle extending between the sling and the loop, said bridle comprising straps at the loop and normally holding the straps from movement through the loop but movable directly along the straps to a position adjacent to the spreader rods to prevent the ,tangling of the bridle when thedevice is not in use.

2. In a baby exerciser, a sling comprising a flexible seat portion extending well forward beneath the babys hips and shaped to 1 fit the body so as to leave its legs perfectly free and unobstructed and extending also upward to its Waist line, a waist band at-- tached to the portion having the seat, a pair of crotch straps extending forward and up ward from the seat to the waist band, and a pair of hip straps extending laterally and forward around the hips and adapted to be connected to each other at-the front.

3. A. device as set forth in claim 2 111 which the several connections of the sling portions are effective by means of separable buttons adjustable along the fabric and cooperating with loop members fixed to certain of the parts.

4. In a baby exerciser, the combination of I a sling for the immediate support of the baby, overhead supporting means including a loop, and a bridle extending between the sling and the loop, said bridle comprising a plurality of straps attached to the sling and slipped through said loop, and a pair of independent spreader rods connected to said straps between the sling and the loop, said rods being freely movable relative to each other in every direction.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

FRANCES M. HASKINS. 

